Back when I wrote The Rebel Newsletter, I used to interview cool creatives about interesting aspects of their practice, books, or business. I wanted to return to this and introduce you to some writers and artists I learn from. These interviews will appear occasionally over the year, and I will be interested to hear what you take away from them. If you gained an insight or thought they were just rad, I hope you will not just tell me so I know you would like more from them or more on their topic, but that you will also tell them how much you enjoyed their thoughts.
When I was in 3rd grade, Miles Miller wrote on my birthday scroll “she has good thoughts” and I have never ever forgotten it. One of the best compliments of my life. I think it is important we tell people they are awesome more often.
Bailey Lang offers magical advice for writers who are ready to finish their books. They are the author of the Word to the Wisenewsletter, and an inspiring writer I met through Kit’s Creator Network. Here is their interesting brain:
Bailey Lang
Libby: What is the most misunderstood part of the writing process, in your experience — especially among early-career or first-time authors? You work with writers across genres and stages. What kinds of “invisible work” do new writers often overlook, and how does that gap affect the final product (or their ability to finish it at all)?
Bailey: In my experience, early-career writers underestimate how long each step of the process will take—and that’s true whether they’re self-publishing or want to work with a traditional publisher. Writing the draft is only the first part of a journey that can take months or years before you ever hold the finished book in your hands (and you’ve also got to be thinking about marketing along the way!).
The biggest gap I see is that people romanticize the creative act—the part where they’re actually writing the book—and neglect the less sexy-sounding parts of the process that are essential for stepping into the role of a professional author. An unwillingness to engage with that back-end work can stop a book from ever getting finished, much less published.
Libby: Revision often feels like this mysterious, never-ending process. What invisible skills separate a strong reviser from someone who stays stuck? As a coach, how do you help writers develop the ability to “see” their work differently during revision? Are there particular frameworks, tools, or mindsets you recommend?
Bailey: Revision can be so challenging! I always acknowledge that up front. It’s hard to get critical feedback on something you’ve already worked so hard on, and it’s incredibly difficult to recognize that you might spend as much time revising as you did writing (and sometimes more).
As a coach, my aim in revision is to help shift writers out of creation mode and into a craft- and audience-oriented mode. Creation mode is all about getting your initial idea down so you have material to work with. Revision is about reshaping and refining that material into its best, highest form. That’s a totally different way of approaching the manuscript, and it requires you to think about it at multiple levels, including ensuring it’s going to serve your audience.
I like to use the metaphor of building a house to guide authors through three phases of revision—developmental editing, line and copy editing, and proofreading.
Developmental editing is all about the structure. You need to make sure the foundation is solid (i.e., do you have glaring plot holes? Are your character motivations and arcs clear? If you’re writing nonfiction, are you making a logical argument?). The framework has to be in place first or the whole thing will come crashing down.
Line and copy editing are all about building the walls, adding in plumbing and electrical, and dropping in major furnishings. The house is sound, so we can start attending to details like style, consistency, and accuracy. This is often what people think of when they imagine revising, but there’s usually a lot of work to be done before you get to this point!
Proofreading is when you check the final details. Straighten the throw pillows, hang some art on the walls. The book is all but done—if you’re proofreading, you should really only be checking for typos and tiny formatting issues.
Breaking the revision process into those three phases can really help cut down on overwhelm and ensure writers prioritize the right changes at the right time. Proofreading a whole chapter you end up deleting isn’t what you want!
Libby: You also ghostwrite — which is the ultimate “invisible” writing job. What have you learned from ghostwriting that has made you a better writer?
Bailey: Ghostwriting always reminds me that all writing is collaborative. We all know the myth of the struggling artist, locked away in their garret, agonizing over a piece of prose. But go read the acknowledgments section of any book and just think about all the people whose work, support, and love went into it. Writers never work alone. That just happens to be extra true for ghostwriting, where I am partnering with the credited author in a very direct way.
Stepping into other writers’ stories and voices has helped me expand my range as a writer. It’s also made me emphasize community in my personal writing process even more than I already did! Writing is a team sport, not a solo effort.
Libby: How has working behind someone else’s voice or story changed the way you think about authorship, process, or success?
Bailey: People often ask ghostwriters if it bothers us to have someone else’s name on work we wrote. I’ve never been worried about it—partly because I have my own writing out in the world, and partly because public credit isn’t the goal of that type of writing.
Success for me is helping writers tell stories that matter. That can look like coaching someone until they finish their draft, providing feedback on a manuscript, or partnering with someone to write the whole thing. Seeing those stories make an impact is my success.
Libby: For writers who are feeling invisible themselves —unseen, or unsure if their work will ever matter — what’s your best advice?
Bailey: For those writers: I feel you! Like I said above, my whole idea of success is helping writers tell stories that matter. The tricky thing is, we don’t get to control that outcome. We can’t predict when our stories will find the right reader or what impact they’ll have.
The question I ask people when they’re feeling invisible is often this: Would you tell the story anyway? Even if no one ever read it in your lifetime, would it still be worth telling for you?
The answer is pretty much always yes, and to me, that’s enough. Your work matters because it matters to you. Creative expression is our birthright, no matter what sort of impact we know about. Learning that the work made a difference for someone else gets to be a happy bonus.
Libby: Writers often enter the publishing world with a mix of hope, fear, and confusion. What are some of the biggest mindset traps you see when writers start navigating publishing? What are some common beliefs or expectations that hold writers back — either when querying agents, self-publishing, or preparing to share their work publicly?
Bailey: There is no one “right way” to do publishing, and there’s no clear path to “success” (especially because success looks so different to each individual person!). No one has figured out all the secrets of publishing that can guarantee you the outcome you want—and be very wary of anyone who insinuates that they have. Everyone’s publishing journey looks a little different, and that is okay!
One hugely challenging mindset shift for navigating the publishing world (especially traditional publishing) is being able to see your book both as a treasured creative work of art and a retail object. Your book is something you put an enormous amount of effort, labor, and love into. For a publisher, it’s a consumer product they have to figure out if they can sell and how much money they stand to gain or lose on it. That can be a really difficult reality to confront for many writers—but understanding it can also help you advocate for your book more effectively. Along these lines, I can’t recommend Kate McKean’s book Write Through It enough, especially for new writers!
Libby: What do you wish more writers understood about the business side of publishing — especially early on? Are there parts of the publishing process that are more about strategy and persistence than talent or luck?
Bailey: The business side of publishing can be incredibly confusing, and this is one reason I recommend that people try to get an agent first and a book deal second (assuming they want to publish traditionally). A good agent will help you figure out all the business elements and get you the best book deal possible.
Getting a traditional book deal is a combination of strategy, persistence, skill, and luck. Your writing might be absolutely incredible, but if nobody’s buying your style of book right now, you’re going to get a whole heap of rejections. There’s nothing you can do about that but keep writing and wait for the market to change.
I would also never advise anyone to write for a specific trend (i.e., romantasy, cozy fantasy) unless that is actually the genre you are truly in love with. By the time your book gets published—a process that can take 12-18 months once you’ve gotten a contract—the market may have moved on! Write what you want to write, rather than trying to fit into whatever trend is hot right now.
Libby: You’ve worked across traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing paths. How do you help writers choose the best fit for their goals — and what role does mindset play in making that decision? For example, how do you help someone distinguish between fear-based decisions and empowered choices?
Bailey: I love talking with writers about how to choose between traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing paths. It all comes down to the specific goal for a specific book and how it fits into someone’s overall career trajectory.
I know writers who self-publish all their nonfiction and work with traditional publishers for novels. I’ve worked with writers who are fully committed to self-publishing because they like the control it gives them over the entire process, and I’ve worked with writers who are only interested in traditional publishing. There’s no right choice—just the choice that is right for you and right for this book.
When I’m working with a writer on this decision, we’ll often game out multiple scenarios. What happens if you query agents for six months and get only rejections (or no responses at all)? What happens if you self-publish this book and an acquisitions editor comes knocking in a year asking to buy it? What investments of money, time, and energy are you willing to make in different publishing models, and how do those investments serve your goals?
Making an empowered decision rather than a fear-based one starts by identifying what matters to the writer about this project and how they want to pursue those goals.
Libby: Publishing often amplifies self-doubt or imposter syndrome, even after a win. How do you help writers protect their sense of identity and creative joy once the work is out in the world? What does a grounded, resilient publishing mindset look like — and how can writers begin to cultivate it before they even submit or launch?
Bailey: As writers, we’re always working at the cutting edge of our capabilities. That’s great, because it means we’re always growing and improving. That also kind of sucks sometimes, because it also means that we’re always questioning ourselves—is this book good enough? Am I good enough?
Part of developing a more resilient mindset means admitting you’re probably never going to be completely comfortable. Putting your creative work out into the world is an intensely vulnerable act, even if you feel like you’re at the top of your game.
Building support structures to protect your emotional well-being and creative joy is essential. Therapy is great! Boundaries are also essential. If checking your reviews or social media feeds is making you feel like you want to crawl out of your skin, take a break from being online. Give yourself those guidelines long before you end up in the trenches—it’s a lot easier to follow a plan you made before you started feeling dysregulated.
I also think it’s important to acknowledge the fact that publishing is not an unmitigated positive experience. Almost every writer I interview on my newsletter talks about both the highs and the lows of publishing, and the ways it can bring up feelings of grief and fear alongside joy and excitement. That is normal! It’s okay if you’re on a bit of an emotional roller-coaster.
Libby: Can you share a recent book or publication you want to recommend to other writers? Who is the piece for?
I mentioned Kate McKean’s book above, and I’ll plug it again here. Write Through It is an amazing resource for writers, especially (but not exclusively!) those who are interested in traditional publishing. McKean is an experienced agent, and Write Through It is accessible, useful, and also very funny.
Libby:I will add it to my TBR list.Thank you for your thoughts!
You can learn more about working with Bailey Lang or subscribe to their newsletter here. And let me know if you like these interviews! What was your key takeaway? Also, on a personal note, should I get a similar haircut as Bailey has in their photo? Should I go short short?
